Farm1 wrote:

"Martin Brown" wrote in message

It used to be used as an insecticide in the old days but these days
is
considered too toxic in mammals (and can harbour tobacco mosaic
virus -
which will infect many other plants)..

You can extract LD50 of nicotine from a couple of cigarettes with
the
right solvents. On toxicological grounds you would not sell tobacco
to
the general public if it was discovered today.

Actually it (supposedly) still can be used as poison. I've come
across organic gardeners who soaked butts and used the resultant
straind off liquid as a poison spray.

That sort of kitchen sink chemistry is downright dangerous. Nicotine
can be lethal to people as well as insects. Natural deadly poisons are
ever bit as dangerous as synthetic ones. In this particular instance
you can come unstuck by following Organic(TM) nicotine insecticide
recipes on the web.

I do know that it's supposedly not advisable to smoke whilst doing
things around one's tomatoes because of the mosaic virus.

Orchid growers get particularly excercised about people smoking in
their greenhouse. I don't know if it is urban legend or not that TMV
can spread that way.

Regards,
Martin Brown